We spend so much of our lives trying.

We work on our marriages. We work on our children. We work on our parnasah, our Torah, ourselves. And because Hashem created us adam la'amal yulad—born to work—that yegiah isn't something we're supposed to escape.

But then comes the danger.

When something finally works, it's very easy to look back at everything we did and think: I did this.

In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue an extraordinary teaching from the Tolna Rebbe about the ba'al tokeia who simply could not get a sound out of the shofar. From the building of the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash to Moshe Rabbeinu forgetting everything he learned on Har Sinai, we discover a pattern that runs through Torah: techilah hishtadlut, sofo matanah. First comes our effort. In the end, it's a gift.

And that changes how we understand the shofar itself.

We blow from the narrow end—min hameitzar karati Kah—and somehow an enormous sound emerges from the other side. The more we toil, the more we're able to recognize and actually taste the miracle when it comes.

Maybe that's part of what it means to crown Hashem on Rosh Hashanah: not waiting until life pushes us into the narrowest place to realize that everything we have was a gift all along.

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOh hPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening Announcements & Memorials
03:20 Recap: The Miracle of the Shofar
05:00 The Mishkan, Beit Hamikdash & Menorah
07:15 Why Does Hashem Make Us Work?
09:05 The Danger of Kochi V'Otzem Yadi
12:01 Yagata U'Matzata: Effort vs. Gift
15:03 Why Moshe Forgot the Torah
21:35 The More You Toil, the More You Taste the Miracle
22:45 The Paradox of Yagata U'Matzata
26:07 Why Our Effort Still Matters
28:40 Vihi Noam: Bringing Hashem Into Our Work
31:36 Why We Blow Shofar From the Narrow End
32:50 A Jew Is a Shofar
34:19 Min HaMeitzar: From Narrowness to Expansiveness
36:18 Why They Turned the Shofar Around
39:43 Why Three Ba'alei Tekiah Had to Fail
41:40 Don't Wait for the Narrowest Place
42:10 The Avodah of Rosh Hashanah
43:21 The Richest People in the World
44:19 A Blessing for a Year of Real Ashirut

Why does Hashem make us work so hard for something that, in the end, only He can make happen?

In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn an extraordinary teaching from the Tolna Rebbe that begins with an almost unbelievable halacha: what happens when the ba'al tokeia simply cannot get a sound out of the shofar?

From there, we enter into the deeper meaning of Vihi Noam, the miraculous building of the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash, and the Menorah that Moshe Rabbeinu could not make no matter how hard he tried.

And that's where this becomes about our lives.

There are things we want so badly. Things we work for, daven for, fight for. And sometimes we wonder: if ultimately everything is in Hashem's hands, why am I being asked to work so hard?

The answer lies in one tiny letter—the yud separating ta'aseh from tei'aseh.

We have to do everything we can. Empty the tank. Exhaust what we believe is possible. And then discover that the greatest things in our lives were never ours to accomplish alone.

That's one of the deepest preparations for Rosh Hashanah: our job is to give Hashem everything we've got. The miracle was never our job.
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Dedications
01:40 A Rosh Hashanah I'll Never Forget
04:07 When the Shofar Wouldn't Blow
08:31 The Strange Halacha of Vihi Noam
17:57 Why Vihi Noam?
19:56 Did We Really Build the Mishkan?
22:38 The Mishkan's Final Miracle
24:04 When Human Effort Isn't Enough
25:04 The Beis Hamikdash Built Itself
26:39 The Menorah Moshe Couldn't Make
28:05 Ta'aseh vs. Tei'aseh
33:46 If Hashem Does It, Why Do We Have to Try?
41:37 Have You Really Tried Everything?

What does it mean to enter into a bris with Hashem?

On the final Shabbos of the year, Parshas Nitzavim gives us the hachana for Rosh Hashanah: אתם נצבים היום כולכם. Stand up. Stand together. Not because we're all the same. Not because we even understand one another. But because every Jew has something that completes another Jew.

And then the Torah tells us why we're standing there: לעברך בברית ה׳ אלקיך. To enter into a covenant with Hashem.

A bris, the Rebbe teaches, is what two people establish when their love is strong so that the relationship will remain even when there are reasons for it not to. It's a love l'ma'alah mita'am vada'as—beyond logic and reason.

It's the deepest thing we're longing to hear from Hashem on Rosh Hashanah, and the deepest thing we want to be able to say back:

My love for You will not end.

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn how Elul clears away everything that has covered over that love, why our relationship with other Jews is part of the covenant itself, and how standing together can awaken a sweetness from Hashem that goes beyond what any of us deserve.
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

Join Rav Shlomo Katz's WhatsApp Community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KHKOhhPaeHx5Kb74WL9L9a?mode=ems_copy_t

00:00 Opening Niggun
03:11 The Final Shabbos of the Year
06:57 Nitzavim and Rosh Hashanah
08:42 How to Enter Rosh Hashanah
10:25 Why We Need Every Jew
15:25 Renewing Our Covenant With Hashem
20:00 My Love For You Will Not End
26:41 Elul Reveals the Love Beneath the Sin
28:29 Why Do We Need a Bris?
30:12 A Love Beyond Reason
31:47 Why Rosh Hashanah Needs Every Kind of Jew
33:17 The Shofar: From Judgment to Mercy
35:34 Final Blessings